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CHESSTTCAMPS: In this ending, material is even, but white has the big advantage of the protected passed pawn on g6 that effectively ties the black king down. In some similar situations, having the fixed pawns on the color of the enemy bishop might be a disadvantage to white, but not here - the supporting f5 pawn is more than adequately protected. Now white can overload and tie down the black bishop with

asiduodiego: Today, I thought "Capablanca-style". I said to myself "I won't look 20 moves ahead, I will search one move ahead, but the best one".

47. d6! it's decisive. Black just can't cope with the threat of both passed pawns on the d and g files. Perhaps guessing 48. Be4!! would have been a better puzzle, but, it was a nice one for a Wednesday. :P

randomsac: Well it's been a while since I've been on here, and I'm feeling the rust from it. I saw d6 as being very forcing, but I failed to see that Bc6 was forced to keep g7 from overextending the black king. Hopefully I'll have more time to visit this site in the future.

Once: Sometimes, just sometimes, I see hills, valleys, fences and roads on the chessboard - a hidden topography of chess.

Okay, okay, I know this sounds a little weird, even for me. But hear me out, and maybe you will see them too.

The first things you see are two highways, arrow-straight roman roads. The pawn on g6 is just itching to "get your motor running, head out on the highway, looking for adventure and whatever comes our way." Given half the chance, white will write g7, g8=Q, 1-0 on his scoresheet. Get your kicks on route g6.

The black king has to stay close to g8 to stop this. And this means that the black king cannot get over to d8 without allowing the g6 pawn to promote. It is as if there is an invisible fence between the black king and the d8 square.

Our second highway runs from d5 to d8. It's a tad longer than route g6, but it stretches away to the horizon like one of those deserted roads in the midwest. You can almost picture Cary Grant in North by Northwest being buzzed by a crop-duster biplane.

But there is one square that stands tall in this position, a strategic outpost, a hill. And that is the d7 square. If you squint really hard, you might see that it is a little higher than all the surrounding squares. An army that gains control of this hill will be a long way towards winning the game.

Why is d7 such an important spot? Because this is where the battle will be fought. The black king cannot guard the d5-d8 road because he is committed to route g6. So the black bishop must do the job of guarding this square. And the only square on this road that the bishop can patrol is d7.

And that explains the finish to this game. 47. d6 and the pawn is running up the hill, trying to get to d7. If it gets there, it's downhill all the way to d8.

47...Bc6 Black races back to set up a roadblock. He cannot allow the white pawn to reach the top of the d7 hill. And he has no choice in this. His own pawns are stuck in traffic and won't be able to promote in time.

48. Be4 White doesn't let the Bc6 rest. He offers up his own bishop as a burger from a roadside choke-and-puke. But if black stops to eat, the d6 pawn zooms ahead and can't be stopped.

Black´s best try in this position may be 50.....Ke8. Now I think it must be 51. Bb1 ! Now 51.... Bd5 fails to 52. Ba2 (either the d pawn or g pawn will queen, whether black exchanges bishops or not) and 51....Kf8 also fails to 52, Ba2. If 52.....Kg7 53. Be6 and after d7 black will have give up his bishop, allowing white to win

If the above is the solution it is VERY tough for a Wednesday. Perhaps there is something simpler I have not seen. Let´s check

scormus: To be honest I feel this is above average difficulty for Wednesday. I'm not too good at endgames and had quite a bit of difficulty seeing 47 d6 was the best move. I spent some time exploring 47 Kd2.

2 questions: i) does 48 f5 work just as well after 47 ... Bc6? After 48 ... h5 49 Be4, more or less transposing, but does B have a better 48 ... ?
ii) does 47 Kd2 also win for W?

gofer: Lots of choices, but I think this is all about white's two passed pawns,
but specifically the one that is most advanced on g6. The king must stay where it is on guard duty or the bishop must come to the a2-g8 diagonal. Currently the bishop has no access to the a2-g8 diagonal, so now is the time to strike as the king has to stay where it is to stop Pg6!

By 37 g4 ... he is already planning for his king march Kd2/Kc1/Kb2/Ka3/Kb4/Kb5 and it is all so clear, exact and great to watch. Moves like Bf3 in the vain attempt to capture Ph5 just show how little black has in the way of counter-attack and that this game was lost well before we get to our position at move 47!

Touchmove: My thought process was the opposite of yours Dzechiel. I also went with my gut and tried d6 first ("passed pawns must be pushed!") but I did not think about the g6 pawn till much later.

For me, the magic is seeing the two connected passed pawns, currently in so much danger, and wondering what can be done to keep them intact or clean house with a sole survivor. I looked at d6, c5 and cxb5.

After my 2nd or 3rd look at d6, I noticed the g6 pawn would keep the king away from the d file and that was when I realized white had the potential to deflect the black bishop.

I still flirted with cxb5, or even 47. d6 Bc6 48. cxb5, but the capture ultimately looks like a loser. 47. cxb5 axb5 48. Bxb5 Bxd5 and black has traded weaker pawns for stronger white ones.

Likewise 47. cxb5 axb5 48. d6 Bc6 and there is no c pawn to deflect the bishop.

So 47. d6 makes sense to me, but what I do not know, is why nobody here is suggesting 48. c5! It seems to me that after any black move, white can still play 49. Be4! and the final position is the same. Do we have a dual solution today?

Also, its worth mentioning that there is a clue to today's solution in black's previous move. After 46. d5, black was concerned about 47. d6+ which would force the black king to choose between losing the race with the g pawn or slowing down its bishop from reaching d7 because of check. So black played 46. ... Kf8, avoiding check and seemingly giving his bishop time to stop the d pawn. Alas, after the Be4 and c5 combination, black is still out of time, but the initial d6 is still a bit more obvious (to me at least) when seen in context.

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